US President, Mr George Bush, has said he was "optimistic" about the long term outlook for the American economy.
According to reports in this morning's New York Times, Mr Bush said his priority was to move towards a balanced budget and, consequently, he would not be releasing the $1.1 billion requested by Congress in emergency spending to continue the war on terrorism.
Mr Bush was speaking at the presidential economic forum, which is generally regarded as platform for the president to highlight the principal economic concerns of the American administration.
However, Mr Bush's optimism was not reciprocated by the Federal Reserve, which last night refused to lower interest rates despite signs that the US economy was returning to recession.
In last night's statement the Federal Reserve said the decline in the stock markets and disclosures of corporate wrongdoing had prolonged a sharp slowdown that might require it to cut interest rates later in the year.
Most of the eight participants who spoke at a closing session of the forum backed the president's economic programmes, including tax cuts and the proposed energy bill.